Family, friends, and acquaintances accompanied Master Sergeant (res.) Shlomo Aviad Nayman, who fell in a confrontation with terrorists in southern Lebanon, on Friday to his final resting place as they sang "Haneshama Lach" a song describing how man's body and soul belong to G-d.
The father of Aviad's widow, Shir, eulogized him and spoke of his son-in-law's will to enlist and contribute: "When you were engaged I told you that you certainly understand that you're not going to enlist to a combat unit and leave your wife home alone. You answered with a shy smile that you understand, but after Hagai was born you and Shira came and said that you decided that you would enlist in Golani."
He added: "Smartly, you moved to a non-combat unit after basic training. After being discharged you joined the combat reserves system. You said 'There's a war, there no way that I'm not there.' You didn't leave itching for a fight, you left seriously, you understood the gravity of the situation and the gravity of the mission."
Aviad, 31, a soldier in the 222nd Battalion, is the second casualty from the community of Mitzpe Yericho two days after SSGT Yishai Mann was killed in an operational vehicle accident near the Gaza Strip a day earlier.
He is survived by his wife Shir, and 4 children: Hagi (12), Tsuriya (9), Karmi (8), and Raphael (4), as well as his parents and 12 siblings.